H.R. Giger, world's number one in Fantastic Art.

Soon he was producing his first freelance artwork. As early as 1969 a poster edition of his pictures was available by mail order. Giger's surreal dream landscapes created with spray-guns and stencils were the cornerstone of his fame, and he built on his reputation in spectacular fasion with his design for Ridley Scott's blockbuster movie ALIEN, which was seen all over the world. The American director had been inspired by Giger's book Necronomicon, published in 1977 by Sphinx in Basle. Giger's stunning creative vision in 'Alien' earned him the 1980 Oscar for Best Achievement for Visual Effects.

Major rock stars commisioned album covers from him, and US rock journalists voted his covers for Debbie Harry and Emerson, Magma (Magma Attahk), Lake and Palmer two of the 100 best in music history.

Giger has also worked in sculpture and design. In 1988 a four-storey bar in Tokyo was built to his ideas, while back home he designed the fittings for a Giger Bar in his home town in Chur.

The last large project he has worked on is a movie called 'Species', for which he created the 'Sil' creature, a beautiful female creature designed after his visions.

Hans Rudi Giger was born and raised in 1940 at Chur in Switzerland, a chemist's son. Even as a child he was highly interested in the morbid, death, and in the supernatural. In his parent's house he made a ghost ride in the cellar. He invited local girls to sit in the little card in the dark. He and a few of his friends pushed these girls through the cellar where they had put up cardboard skeletons, monsters and corpses. Small flashlights, stolen from bicycles on the street, shone their little lights which gave the cellar an eerie atmosphere. One of the greatest thrills to little Hans Rudi was when one of the elder girls gave in and sat down in the chart to be pushed around. This rarely happened, though.

After a few years, H.R. discovered books like 'The Phantom of the Opera', which made his ghost ride somewhat primitive, so he started working on a 'Black Chamber', at the top floor. It was meant to play jazz in with his friends, and to make out with girls.

In 1959 some underground magazines, among which were 'Clou' and 'Hotcha', and his school newspaper published his 'Atom children', drawings of deformed children which he drew on calender sheets. A poem went with these pictures.

We, Atom Children

We are greatful to our begetters
who, at the big bang,
after the Swiss atom regulation
dropped themselves in a reflex
and counted to fifteen like good people,
otherwise we wouldn't have been here.

We atom children do not wish to moralise
blame no one;
we simply want
you to get used to us and learn to appreciate us.

But we cannot promise you anything
for when we have taken over,
you will be thought of as abnormal
and will probably suffer under it.

H.R.G., 1963

In 1967, Hans Rudi and Li move in an upper floor of an empty house which is deamed to be broken down. In their new home he made paintings like Birthmachine, Underground and Astroneuchen. A first documentary is made, a ten minute long special about Giger's work, by F.M. Murer. Fred Knecht exhibits Giger's art in his gallery Obere Zäune.

Basilio Schmid, nicknamed Pascha, convinces Hans Rudi in 1968 to dedicate himself entirely to his art, giving up his job at Andreas Christen. Pascha is still a good friend of him, helping him with selling his art. Again, Hans Rudi stays a couple of weeks at Ticino, working. After that, he works at the special effects of a small thrity minute movie called Swiss-Made, a sci-fi movie. He makes an armour for a dog and the 'monster': an alien creature, robotic in nature, with inbuilt camera and sound equipment. This robot is still in Giger's posession, occupying a seat in his living room.
Giger moves to a room inside a commune, where he continues to create his paintings. Burno Bischofberger, a gallery owner, visits Giger and buys some art off him. He advices Giger to number and photograph his paintings. Li moves to St. Gallen, where she is offered a job.

In 1969, Giger exhibits his art under the title First Celebration Of The Four at Jorg Stummer's gallery, together with Sergius Golowin and Friedrich Kuhn. He also has several exhibitions abroad: in Germany and Austria.
After having nightmares, he deals with them by painting his dreams, resulting in his Passages paintings.

Next year, 1970, Li returns to Zürich, moving in with a friend of hers, Eveline Buhler, who lives nearby H.R. Giger. In Eveline's house, Giger has his first horror nightmare, after which he draws the 'Natcellen-paintings'. He also draws The Four Elements, which convert into three other paintings: Bathtub, Kitchen with drainage, and WC.
In april, Hans Rudi and Li move in a small home in Zürich-Oerlikon.

In 1973, Friedrich Kuhn, according to H.R. Giger one of the greatest Swiss artists, dies. He used to visit Evelin's house frequently, most of the time falling asleep over the dinner table. From a photosession, made by Giger recently before Kuhn died, he paints his Hommage à Friedrich.
Hans Rudi gets the assignment to create a cover for the album of Emerson, Lake and Palmer.

In 1975, Li opens her own gallery after Jorg Stummer helps her with it. She shows pieces of Manon, Pfeiffer and Klauke. On the last exhibition in Li's gallery, the guests are asked to wear extravagant shoeware. Giger appears wearing loafs of bread for shoes, filming the entire event.

Li again falls back in lethargy, and commits suicide with a revolver. For Hans Rudi, there is no consolation to be found anywhere.

In the next year, the Ugly-Club in Richterswil holds a ceremony as an inauguration as well as an memorial to Li. It's called The Second Celebration Of The Four.
H.R. Giger is promised an assignment to work on Dune, the movie. He designs the world of the Harkonnen after a script by Moebius.

In 1977, Giger is suddenly shoved out of the project Dune, also because of the fact that there weren't any financers for the project. He then gets the assignment to create a monster for the sf-horror movie Alien. For now, it is a short term project to find a movie company for the production of this nine milion dollar project.

In january, H.R. Giger meets Mia Bonzanigo, his wife to be. Twentieth Century Fox is financially interested in the project Alien, and in february the director named Scott and two producers visit Giger in Zürich to talk about the movie.
Giger's Necronomicon comes out in the fall, in several languages. One of the copies is offered to the director and the movie company, which convinces them that H.R. Giger is the person to create the creature for the movie Alien.

1979. Alien year. Hans Rudi moves all over the world to promote the movie, after having worked on it concentrated for months. At the premiere at Graumann's Egyptian Theatre on Sunset Boulevard, there is a gigantic Space Jockey which was moved from England to the USA especially for the occasion. Later, a pyromaniac sets fire to it, and it brusn down.
Hans Rudi Giger receives an Emmy for his work on the movie Alien. He and Mia are interviewed tediously about the movie. After the exhausting trip around the world, H.R. Giger and Mia marry.

The year is 1980. The designs and paintings for the movie Alien are exhibited first in Galerie Baviera in Zürich, and later on in the Mus&eaigue;e canotal des Beaux-Arts in Lausanne. H.R. Giger is nominated for an Oscar. On the 14th of May, 1980, he receives the Oscar for 'Best Achievement for Visual Effects' for the movie Aliens in the Dorothy-Chandler-Pavillion. His wife Mia wrote down how this event took place.

-Mia Bonzanigo

Also in 1980, there was a celebration in New York for H.R. Giger's vernissage in the Hansen Galleries N.Y.C. Later that year, Bob Guicionne publishes H.R. Giger's erotic paintings in hte american magazine Penthouse; a fourteen page long colour special.

1981. H.R. Giger works on his N.Y.-City paintings, as the five trips to New York inspired Giger greatly. Ever since 1979 Cornelius de Fries, a friend who had been working on furniture, works on the 'Harkonnen chair' which was meant to be used in the movie 'Dune'.

In 1982, the furniture program in Zuürich has been extended by a table and a mirror frame. They are exhibited and used in the restaurant Novelle. Ueli Steinle's restaurant comes close to what H.R. Giger has in mind as his 'living museum'.
In spring, H.R. Giger starts designing for the movie 'The Tourist' for the movie company Universal. In cooperation with Brain Gibson seventy sketches and eleven large paintings come to life.

In 1983 H.R. Giger paints his 'Victory' paintings, which lead to the 'Totem' paintings. A litho on stone, 'The Mexican Bomb Pair", is another basis for a series of bomb paintings.
H.R. Giger is invited as a guest of honour for the fantastic movie festivals in Madrid and Brussels. The movie 'The Tourist' is postponed due to the enormous success of the movie 'E.T.', after which H.R. Giger is called to München for a meeting for the movie 'Momo' after the book by Michael Ende. A film group from Paris presents a script after some special paintings from H.R. Giger. The script is called 'Passagen'. Another project, 'The Mirroroff', also a horror movie of Twentieth Century Fox, is under debate.

There is an exposition in the cultural centrum Pfäffikon in 1984. A short retrospective movie is made by Daniel Freitag and Rolando Colla.
Ron Moore, director of 'Future Kill', convinces H.R. Giger to do the posters for the movie. They are published by Ed Neal, the actor from 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'.
In cooperation with Martin Schwarz fifteen paintings are made. The friendship with Marlyse influences Gigers image towards women strongly.

MGM assigns H.R. Giger to a number of horror scenes for the movie 'Poltergeist II' in 1985. De Fries, hired by Robert Edlund, tries to save as much of Gigers ideas as possible, but ends up only making models. H.R. Giger notices too late he is working on the wrong movie: no one had given him precise information about the movie 'Aliens' (Alien II). The first scenes of the movie 'Poltergeist II' though, look quite professional. But when the special effects of Robert Edlund are shown H.R Giger feared for the quility of the movie. He dislikes the story of 'Poltergeist II'.
Assigned by Volvo, Giger creates an illustration for the story 'The Route to Hyperspace' by Isaac Asimov.
Edition C reprints the books 'Necronomicon' and 'Necronomicon II'.

In 1986 Giger works on the preparations for the big exhibition in the gallery of the Sebiu Museum of Art in Tokyo in february '87. Sony publishes the first laserdiscs with on the cover motives made by H.R. Giger. Alexander Bohr makes a 45 minute special about H.R. Giger entitled 'Das phantastische Universum des H.R. Giger.'
'Poltergeist II' comes out world wide. In America it's a box office hit, but in Europe the movie doesn't last long. H.R. Giger isn't very happy with the visual representation of his ideas.

Seibu, the japanese concern in Tokyo, exhibits the Harkonnen chair, the original Alien creature, items from the themes Giger's Alien and 'Poltergeist II.'
A Japanese fanclub is founded:

   H.R. Giger Fanclub
   BIOMECHANOID 87 (Thoru Itho),
   D35-302
   1-2 Fuzishiro-Dai
   Suita City
   Osaka
   565 Japan

A number of things are being published in japanese: the books Alien, Necronomicon I and II, six different motives for posters, and a cover for a laserdisc. H.R. Giger gets the assignment to design the monster Goho Doji for a movie of the Japanese director Akio Jitsusoji.

Next year, the translation of the books in Japanese are published. One hundred copies of the yearbook of the Giger-fanclub is sold, signed and numbered. A four story high bar is built in Tokyo. Due to the strict building prescriptions only a few of the original ideas can be upheld. Despite Giger's objections the bar is built and opened by U. Steine.
'Biomechanics' is published by Edition C (Zürich), Peter Baumann, Bijan Aalam (Paris), Ugly Publications (N.Y.City) and Lesley Baraney.

[more information will follow]

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Written by E. de Vos
Vos@dutiws.TWI.TUDelft.nl

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